Rays take rubber game, hand Yankees another series loss

Randy Arozarena belted a two-run homer and Brandon Lowe collected three hits to fuel the Tampa Bay Rays to a 5-4 victory over the New York Yankees on Thursday in St. Petersburg, Fla.

Lowe joined Amed Rosario and Jose Siri in each driving in a run. Yandy Diaz had a pair of doubles and scored twice to help the Rays win the decisive contest of the three-game series.

Juan Soto and Austin Wells each launched a solo homer and Ben Rice drove in a pair of runs for the Yankees, who have lost 18 of their last 25 games and are 0-7-1 in their last eight series. New York has failed to win a series since taking three of four against the Kansas City Royals on June 10-13.

Tampa Bay scored three runs off Nestor Cortes (4-8) in the third inning to snap a 2-2 tie. Lowe singled to left field to plate Diaz with the go-ahead run before coming around to score on Rosario's double down the left field line. Isaac Paredes scored on Siri's sacrifice fly to give the Rays a 5-2 lead.

Kevin Kelly (3-1) relieved starter Shane Baz and worked out of a bases-loaded jam to end the fifth inning. Kelly walked one batter in two-thirds of a scoreless inning -- though he did allow an inherited runner to score -- before four relievers bridged the gap to Pete Fairbanks. The closer worked around Rice's RBI single in the ninth by inducing Gleyber Torres to pop out to end the game. The save was Fairbanks' 16th of the season.

Cortes fell to 0-5 on the road this season after permitting five runs on seven hits in 4 1/3 innings.

Tampa Bay jumped on Cortes from the onset. Diaz doubled to lead off the first inning before Arozarena deposited a 2-1 fastball over the wall in left. The homer was Arozarena's 12th of the season and first since June 30.

New York belted a pair of solo homers to forge a 2-2 tie. Wells wrapped a blast around the right field foul pole to lead off the second inning and Soto sent a first-pitch fastball from Baz over the wall in left-center field in the third.

--Field Level Media